The 4th Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on Water failed to adopt a comprehensive and urgently needed Strategy for Water in the Mediterranean because of a failure to compromise on the wording of two key political issues: the reference or not to ‘occupied territories’ and the reference or not to the UN Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses.
GWP Chile was accredited as a Country Water Partnership on April 9. In response to a congratulatory letter from GWP Executive Secretary Dr Ania Grobicki, GWP Chile Chair Ms María Angelica Alegria explained some of the water-related challenges facing her nation in light of its recent earthquake.
Dr Letitia A Obeng, GWP Chair speech at the 5th High Level Session of Ministers with responsibility for water was co-convened by GWP-Caribbean and the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association's (CWWA's) in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands on 5-6 October 2009.
In December 2010, the National Environmental Strategy of the Ukraine was adopted by the Ukrainian parliament and contains a component on water management. In 2009, Ukraine decided to revise its main water planning document in accordance with European Union laws and the EU’s Water Framework Directive even though the country is not a member of the EU.
GWP Caribbean and Caribbean WaterNet in collaboration with the Government of Grenada, the National Water and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA) and the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA), held a three-day workshop in Grenada on ‘Hydro-Climatic Hazards in Water Resources Management’, May 16-18, 2011.
The Menik Ganga Area Water Partnership (AWP) together with local and temple authorities, local traders and youth groups helped protect water supplies during the one-week Sella Kataragama festival in July.
Lake Cerknica is one of the most important Slovenian Karst sights known worldwide. The phenomenon of intermittent (disappearing) Lake Cerknica has become famous worldwide as an area where cattle can graze, farmers can plow fields, catch fish and drive boats in the same place. A project (2007-2009) supported by EU funding (LIFE06NAT/SLO/000069) aimed to restore the unique ecosystem of Lake Cerknica. This project was possible due to a favorable legal setting - Lake Cerknica was included in a European network of nature protection areas Natura 2000. In 2006 it was registered as Ramsar site
Level Roundtable on Strategy of Extreme Climate Adaptation in China was jointly organized by Global Water Partnership China, Asian Development Bank and Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on April 22, 2011 in Beijing with the co-sponsors of UNESCO Office Beijing, UNICEF Office for China, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), WWF Beijing Office, Research Center on Flood and Drought Disaster Reduction of the Ministry of Water Resources and Climate Change Research Center of the Ministry of Water Resources and 130 participants from the key water-related ministries under the State Council, and relevant departments of the Ministry of Water Resources, UN organizations’ offices in China, foreign embassies in Beijing, universities, research institutes and NGOs.